Trump's words won; now, we judge his deeds: Kevin O'Brien

Protesters in Louisville, Kentucky, are incorrect: Donald Trump actually is their president. Americans are about to find out what that actually means.Timothy D. Easley / Associated Press

Americans decided on Tuesday which package to open.

With Hillary Clinton, the contents were thoroughly understood. After 30 years of watching her in and near the political arena, everyone knew how to read the label -- what to expect, what to believe, what to discount.

With President-elect Donald Trump, we lack that sort of certainty. Oh, we've seen the packing list -- liberal, conservative, phony Republican, genuine Republican, pro-life, pro-choice, white nationalist, populist, autocrat, law-and-order guy, stiffer of contractors, catalyst of the apocalypse, savior -- the self-contradictory tally goes on and on. But there's no way all those things can be in that box.

Now, we're about to find out what the voters bought -- what was real and what was hot air. By his deeds shall we know him. If his deeds are bad, we'll ride out the consequences and replace him in four years, so put down your Molotov cocktail and breathe into this paper bag for a couple of minutes.

I sincerely hope the people who were enthusiastic for Trump get to unwrap the president they were hoping for -- the patriot who will set about undoing the damage inflicted by Barack Obama and put people on the Supreme Court who aren't out to redefine every word in the English language.

I'm hoping just as hard that a solidly Republican Congress will hit the ground running on economic policy, debt, entitlements and health insurance. Congress resuming the leadership role in those areas would be a healthy outcome.

In any case, cancel the tantrum. Whatever happens in the Trump administration won't happen in a vacuum.

The Washington media are coming off an eight-year break from examining the conduct of the presidency, and they despise Trump. They'll make starving wolves look like models of etiquette.

The Democrats in Congress know how to play defense. They'll be wobbly after what can only be described as three Republican wave elections in the last four, but they'll work ceaselessly to make Trump a one-term president. (That's not a problem; that's their job.)

The real world is going to impinge sharply on Trump's campaign promises. There's no way he can keep them all, and his most ardent supporters aren't exactly brimming with patience.

That's another box -- with a packing list that looks mighty suspicious, in light of the election results.

It turns out we in the "political professionals" set -- pollsters, pundits, politicians -- don't know as much as we thought we did about the American people.

It seems as if Trump's candidacy has pulled together a new coalition on the right, but it will take four to eight years to find out whether that's actually true. Right now, all we have are questions:

Will all of the different flavors of Trump supporters -- white identity voters, economic nationalists, people angry at "Washington" or "the system" or "the Establishment," people disgusted with Obama's policies or style, Trump cult-of-personality voters, etc. -- hold together for more than one election?

Even more to the point, can the Trump electorate hold together now that there's no threat of a Hillary Clinton presidency, with matching Supreme Court nominees?

What will happen to the Republican Party, now that Trump's hostile takeover is complete? Will constitutional conservatives stay, or will they have to go elsewhere?

What will happen to the Democratic Party, with the demise of the Obama coalition? Will Bernie Sanders' supporters come in from their riots and out from their safe spaces to seize the initiative and finish the party's slide into socialism?

The next two years will tell whether the 2016 "change" election actually has given us change. If Trump doesn't follow through or congressional Republicans are afraid to step away from the status quo, the "change" argument will shift back to the Democrats and the public's desire for something new will only intensify.